From Upgrades to Installations: How Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. Took On The Task

Upgrading to WebCenter 12c, simplifying document management, and ensuring continued Oracle support

Highlights

  • Upgrade of WebCenter Content and Imaging from 11g to 12c which allows DODI to shift from Oracle Extended Support which ended in Dec 2021 back to Oracle Premier Support.
  • Rebuild of 3rd party software functionality directly into WebCenter 12c simplifies the WebCenter solution and allows DODI to manage the WebCenter environment more easily.
  • Leveraging the existing partnership with TEAM IM allowed the upgrade to proceed more efficiently and effectively than bringing another Solution Integrator up to speed.
  • DODI was able to resume business-as-usual with minimal interruptions or retraining.
  • Consolidated the number of WebCenter Capture profiles down from 140 to 63 making it easier to train, support and maintain.

Customer Background

Headquartered in Katy, TX, Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DODI) is a leader in offshore drilling and is committed to unlocking energy responsibly. They operate thirteen drilling rigs, including nine semi-submersible platforms, as well as four dynamically positioned drillships. DODI has offices in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Scotland, Singapore, and Norway, but operations in the US account for approximately half of the company’s revenue.

As of 2019, the company’s revenue was generated primarily through the Hess Corporation (28.9%), Occidental Petroleum (20.6%), Petrobras (19.5%), and British Petroleum (3.1%).

TEAM IM and DODI have been engaged in a consulting and support services relationship since 2016 and have a current, ongoing enhanced support agreement in place. As DODI’s partner for WebCenter expertise, TEAM IM was a natural choice for assisting with this WebCenter Upgrade.

Project Details

The Problem

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. required an upgrade to their WebCenter Content and WebCenter Imaging installations, from v11g to 1v2c. They had an existing, separate, custom 3rd party legacy application that was tied to WebCenter that also needed to be upgraded. The problem they encountered was that the custom 3rd party product was developed by an outside organization, and DODI lacked the ability to upgrade or enhance the functionality of the product. As a result, DODI needed to enlist an outside company with the capability to update and rewrite the custom 3rd party product functionality so that it could operate within WCC v12c environment vs as a separate application.

The Importance of the WebCenter Upgrade

When Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. reached the end of the Oracle support lifecycle on their WebCenter Content 11g and WebCenter Imaging 11g installations, their custom, legacy functionality could not make the shift to 12c. Since Oracle Support for 11g cannot be leveraged after December 31, 2021, they were in need of a delivery partner with expertise in providing the upgrade as well as upgrading the functionality of the 3rd party application directly into the WebCenter platform.

Why TEAM IM was Chosen

As a partner of Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. since 2016, TEAM IM has supplied consulting capabilities and long-term Enhanced support agreements. This track record of setting DODI up for success in these areas made TEAM IM a natural choice for designing and implementing the upgrade.

The Method

TEAM IM installed new instances of WCC 12c on two tiers, TST and PRD, in accordance with the specs provided by Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. The instances were installed with the latest WebCenter versions, and all published Oracle patches and patchsets were detailed, downloaded, and applied. All configurations from the matching 11g systems were then migrated between instances for WebCenter Content and WebCenter Imaging.

Twenty percent (20%) of 11g production content was migrated to the 12c test tier to enable testing and verification activities, and one hundred percent (100%) of 11g production content was migrated to the 12c production tier in a mirroring operation.

Functionality for the custom 3rd party product was designed, developed, and deployed directly to WCC 12c (vs a separate application), enabling a seamless transition from the old platform to the new one without losing any functionality. TEAM IM was there to assist with knowledge transfer, functional testing design, and performed any remediations that resulted from functional and UAT testing periods. TEAM IM also provided assistance in consolidation of scanning profiles for the WebCenter Capture portion of the upgrade. We also helped streamline the overall scanning/capture process.

The Result

The customer is able to continue with business as usual, with no missed steps or lost functionality. The transition to WCC/WCI 12c means Oracle support will now remain available to Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. for several more years.

Capitalizing on an existing long-term relationship with DODI built on quality service, TEAM IM was able to complete the project on budget by utilizing a cross-functional, international team of resources from both TEAM IM US and TEAM IM ANZ.

Being able to partner with our Customer through unforeseen changes strengthened our partnership. I'm so appreciative of the trust the team had in us to not only advocate for them but to create a customized webform within a matter of weeks. We can't always predict what will happen next in the world of technology but at TEAM IM we will always do right by our customers.
Nicole Lunberg
Delivery Lead, TEAM IM

Value Added

  • Implementation of new WebCenter Content and Imaging v12c installations ensures continued Oracle support across all WebCenter platforms.
  • Rebuilding custom third-party software functionality directly within WebCenter enables full platform integration and allows for ongoing support from TEAM IM.

Software and Cloud Services Involved

  • WebLogic Server 12c
  • WebCenter Content 12c
  • WebCenter Capture 12c
  • WebCenter Imaging 12c
  • Custom Developed Component for WCC 12c (Custom 3rd party product replacement)